People and Culture: Art and Music

Art and Culture opportunities in the Durban Metropolitan Area:

The rich diversity of Durban's demographic composition is reflected in the astonishing variety of arts and cultural opportunities available in the DMA. The city contains over twenty-five museums covering topics ranging from natural history to traditional Zulu art to the atrocities of apartheid. For a listing of museums in the DMA click here.

The local music scene in Durban is extremely vibrant and offers up a host of musical varieties ranging from American style rock/alternative to Indian classical to Zulu contemporary. The most popular musical genre in the Durban scene is jazz, a fact that is manifest in the high number of jazz venues in the DMA. There is also a small folk scene in the Durban area but this genre is mostly followed by whites, which is unsurprising given the euro-centric roots of the 'folk' genre. For a listing of local bands and venues click here.

Durban's cosmopolitan heritage is also manifest in its architecture. "The influences of Asian, Zulu, English Colonial, and Afrikaner cultures have made the city a treasure chest of architectural styles." Durban is considered to be one of the premier cities in the world for Art-Deco architecture, which Durban designers adopted as a break-away from British Imperialism. To see more pictures of buildings in Durban click here.